Terror: Houson, left, mounts a kerb before driving down a pavement as he tries to evade City of London Police (Picture: City of London Police)

This is the moment a convicted rapist embarks on a high-speed 10-mile car chase through the centre of London, forcing a pensioner to dive for cover, driving on pavements and hitting a cyclist.

Chris Houson, 41, left the man lying in the road as he sped off at 50mph, ignoring no entry signs, clipping cars and driving the wrong way down one-way streets.

He took flight as he tried to evade a police officer in Farringdon Road, having breached his licence conditions while on early release for a rape sentence.

The Old Bailey heard he feared being sent back to prison if he was caught.

City of London Police officers eventually cornered him after a terrifying 45-minute chase through the City and into Islington and Barnet - a trail the judge said "defied belief".

In the video, released by the force today, Houson is clearly shown overtaking the cyclist before making a sharp left, narrowly avoiding knocking him into the path of another car.

He mounts a kerb and recklessly speeds down a pavement before dicing with death by veering into the wrong lane ahead of a crossroads.

At one point Houson - shown in police mugshots with a distinctive bright red scar across his forehead - even rams an oncoming car to force it out of his way.

But when police boxed him in he finally gave up and surrendered.

Judge Wendy Joseph QC banned him from the roads for five years and told him he must serve the rest of his rape sentence behind bars, concurrently with his 19 months for dangerous driving and five months consecutive for driving while disqualified.

Houson, who also had a string of convictions for driving whilst disqualified between 1995 and 2010, admitted both the new charges.

Jailing him for two years on Friday, Judge Joseph said: "You just don't listen."